T105 An Early Involvement of K9–16 Students in Geoscience-Related Research: Potential Tool for Recruitment and Retention (Posters) I

Tuesday, 27 October 2020
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Meeting Rooms

GEOSCIENCE SUCCESS LESSONS: INTERVENTION FOR INTRODUCTORY GEOSCIENCE STUDENTS TO DEVELOP THEIR GEOSCIENCE INTEREST

Paper number: T105-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 6:10 PM – 6:20 PM

Authors

Abstract

Geoscience interest does not always spontaneously occur in students. Increasing geoscience interest for introductory geoscience students can not only increase their level of interest in geoscience, but also increase their learning, motivation, engagement, success in class, and odds of continuing in the geoscience discipline. An instructional intervention to promote student geoscience interest in introductory geology labs was used to better understand how instructors can foster geoscience interest. A mixed methods study examined how student interest changed from a pre-survey, an interest intervention, and a post-survey. The interest intervention, one of six affective domain interventions developed as part of a larger study, contained (a) an online, self-paced learning task with strategies to increase one’s interest followed by a low-stakes assessment, and (b) a personalized application activity to directly apply knowledge regarding the interest intervention to students’ introductory geology class. The online task included contextualized learning stories--vignettes of students with either low or high interest--and actionable strategies for increasing interest. The personalized application activity asked students to identify geoscience interest and ways to increase it. Though quantitative data analysis did not show a significant change in geoscience interest from pre- to post-survey, the interest interventions were ranked as one of the most helpful affective interventions by the students even among students who also received a math skill intervention. Students were also able to identify topics of interest (i.e. natural disasters) and connect them to their lives (i.e. future career plans). These findings suggest that including this interest intervention may help students identify and connect with geoscience topics and thus increase the recruitment and retention of students in the geosciences.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 52, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-359161

© Copyright 2020 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.